THE MEXICAN SITUATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15650, 2 July 1914, Page 6

THE MEXICAN SITUATION.

The quarrel between the Constitutionalist leaders Villa and Carranza may precipitate another civil war in Mexico as soon as the Huertan regime has tottered to its fall. This is altogether-typical of the condition of Mexico, and this is the real difficulty the United States has to face. The normal state of the country is anarchy, tho sword is the only law, and the only peace Mexico has known has been under a despotism too firm to be shaken off. The course of the mediators' conference suggests that the United States is seeking some pretext which by diplomatic fiction will leave her honourably free to withdraw. The suggestion to choose a Constitutionalist as a provisional President is little better' than an excuse for shuffling responsibility on to the most convenient shadow of authority, for the so-called " Constitutionalists" are a rabble army containing as many brigands as sincere reformers, and their leaders are as deeply involved in crime as those of any other fac-. tion. Nor can the proposal for a fair Presidential election, according to constitutional principles, be regarded very seriously, because that is not the Mexican way of choosing Presidents, and - constitutionalism cannot be moulded as a glove to fit anarchy. The task before America is to restore order in Mexico, as she has in Vera Cruz, by armed intervention. She seem? indisposed to undertake the work just now, but sooner or later she will be forced to it, because civilisation cannot indefinitely allow barbarism to triumph at its border. Already the Constitutionalists are treating the mediators' conference with contempt, and from their point of view quite rightly. Having won control of Mexico by the sword, why should they accept it from the hands of the mediators as a gift?